St. Landry democrat., 1887-10-01
AFTER SUMMER PESTS.
Eternal Vigilance the Price of Sweetness
and Light in American Homes.
JENNY JUNE.
copyrighted, ISL

Those who live in an atmosphere of
domestic sweetness and comfort have
much to be thankful for, particularly if
it is so we'll managed that they can enjoy
it without knowing exactly how it is
brought about. Modern luxury, the
accumulation of Dric-a-brac, summer
absences on the part of the mistress of
the household, the assumption of her
duties by irresponsible servants, are all
causes of accumulated dirt and disorder,
sometimes hidden away in corners, but
provocative of the growth of household
pests, of loss and trouble, if not of the
worst danger-disease.
Among the women I know there are
two who make business of keeping
clean; there may be others, but these
two are TYPICAL say are, but l should
have said were, for one is no longer in
this world She died, the embodiment of
purity that she had lived; and, l am quite
sure, so modest and gentle were her ways,
that her family never realized in the least
what she had been to them-what she
was in her home-until long after her
death-perhaps never. They will only
know that things never have been and
never can be the same. Her genius was
for always doing the right thing, at the
right time, and in the right way. She
did not wait for a CONFUSION, break,
catastrophe, to apply her remedies. She
prevented such occurrences by her I'M
ceasing performance of domestic duty,
but it was all done so quietly, under
such wise and kindly supervision, that
none knew exactly how, when, or what
was done; they only knew that an atmos-
phere of cleanliness order, and beautiful
domestic serenity was maintained A
great deal of this necessary work was done
by her own hands. She was not rich; the
two servants, always, as ignorant service
must be, more or less incompetent, had
their capacity more than tested by the
needs of large family, and al gaps
were filled in by herself daughters now
adays being too much absorbed by their
own high demands and Oscillations
to be of much practical help to their
mothers. So it was this lovely lady
whom, if you had seen dressed in the
drawing-room, you would not imagine
ever left it, who scrubbed the shelves of
the closets, sprinkled them with borax
1t was her gentle hands that shook and
hr,,c haI oil
and winter clothing before putting it
with powdered borax and camphor and
in the absence of the cedar
but never had during her life. 1t was her
vigilance that yearly, in the early spring,
gave bedsteads and out-of-the-wa cor
that filled cracks in kitchen woodwork
the cellar clean as the parlor with lavish
addition to the careful removal of refuse
perience have a dread of sleeping in
strange houses, for they know how rare
is the thong htfulness which provides for
tlC SOlilIoAb VI thC otl duSCl, duu now
much more rare is the habit of refined
and attention to details,
which alone insures their comfort. But in
the home of this lady feeling of peace
and security took possession of you.
was provided for, and you
sank to blissful rest under the soft, white
knowing that no ill could come
to you which it was in the power of the
mistress of the house to ward off.
No. 2 was very different type OF
Her aggressive cleanli-
ness, which she cultivated as a grievance
and made misery to herself and every
one about her, would have made vestal
forswear purity. She still lives, unfor-
but will not dwell upon her
any more than would with her, not
a horror of insect pests
and the undoubted fact that not one of
them would ever or was ever known to
come within mile of her. The subject
and the consideration of it embodied in
this brief paper have been suggested by
after-summer facts which have occurred
recently, and which affect the health as
we'll as the happiness of the household.
A T. +1~~4 l.